Bar stabbing trial starts for sitcom actor Diamond

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) — Dustin Diamond, the actor who portrayed Screech on the 1990s TV show “Saved by the Bell,” went on trial Wednesday on charges that he stabbed a man during a confrontation at a bar, but the proceedings came to a screeching halt at the start after the prosecutor objected to a defense attorney’s good luck message for his client.

“Apparently, there’s a car with some sort of either bumper sticker or signage in the parking lot that says, ‘Good Luck Dustin,'” Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol complained. It turned out that defense attorney Thomas Alberti had written the message on his BMW’s rear window.

“That’s not appropriate. Mr. Alberti, you have that sign removed in five minutes or there’s going to be a problem,” Malloy said.

Alberti complied and wiped the message off his car as reporters looked on.

Diamond, 38, is charged with a felony count of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and two misdemeanors — disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon. Diamond and his girlfriend, Amanda Schutz, have pleaded not guilty.

Diamond allegedly stabbed a man with a pocket knife during an argument at The Grand Avenue Saloon in Port Washington on Christmas Day. The man was not seriously hurt. Alberti says his client was defending Schutz after another patron punched her in her mouth.

Testimony on Wednesday focused on the tavern’s murky surveillance video, which doesn’t show the stabbing.